Dallas Mavericks: Chandler Parsons Is Most Likely Leaving

After two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, all signs point to Chandler Parsons leaving this summer.

With arguably the most critical free agency period of the Dirk Nowitzki era approaching, the Dallas Mavericks will have many paths to take. Whether it’s chasing another superstar, re-signing key players or a little bit of both, storylines will be flowing throughout Big D this July.

For the Mavs, the rumored pursuits of big-name players like Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside have already begun, but it’s important to look inside of the organization to see what players they could lose during their campaign for more stars.

Chandler Parsons is the first name that comes to mind. The Mavs made one of the most daring moves of the summer back in 2014 when they signed him to a three-year, $45 million offer sheet.

Once the Houston Rockets decided to move on and not match the offer, Parsons became the newest starting small forward in Dallas.

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In his two seasons with the team, he averaged a combined 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 48 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 70 percent from the charity stripe.

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Parsons managed to average 31.4 minutes per game in his 127 total regular season outings.

He has already opted out of his contract for the 2016-17 season and will become a free agent on July 1. While Parsons has served as one of the primary scorers for the Mavs during his two-year stint, he could be on his way out of Dallas this summer.

There’s no doubt that he’s going to get interest from teams in his home state (Florida), like the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, but he’ll also attract interest from other teams with the cap space to sign him, like the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.

So here’s the situation heading into the summer:

The Mavs would love to have Parsons back on the team, as he has been a reliable offensive player for them, but they don’t seem to be rushing to offer him max money, something that he clearly wants.

Besides, the Mavs are all in on Conley and Whiteside as their Plan A this summer and are willing to let Parsons walk. His recent Instagram post–one that features him holding his hands at his ears–further proves that he’s ready to listen to every offer that comes his way this summer.

So what does this mean for the Mavs?

With the team determined to finally break through and snag a couple of star free agents this summer, it likely means Parsons is gone.

He won’t be waiting around to see if the Mavs fail to land any free agents. If he receives an offer he likes, he’s taking it–similar to what Tyson Chandler did during the DeAndre Jordan fiasco last summer.

Even if the Mavs were able to successfully sign the guys that they wanted, they would have minimal room to operate, which, in turn, would mean no max for Parsons, as they are expected to offer both Conley and Whiteside max deals.

That brings up the question concerning whether or not Parsons even deserves a max contract in the first place. Both of his seasons with the Mavs have ended with serious knee injuries.

He’s missed nine playoff games and had just 10 points, six rebounds and two assists on 5-for-15 shooting in the one that he did play in.

Sure, he had some great stretches, like last season when he averaged 20.5 points on 52 percent shooting from the field, to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists during mid-January to the end of February.

However, that was just one small piece of his tenure with the Mavs so far.

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It took him about two months before he got going this season, as he was continuing to heal from major knee surgery, and in 2014-15, he missed 15 key games down the stretch before being ruled out entirely in the playoffs.

Parsons is a top-10 small forward in the league when he’s healthy, but it’s simply rare to see him stay healthy for a long stretch of time.

With that type of uncertainty, it’s hard to give him a max contract, even if he did have a good relationship with Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavs front office.

Sure, they would be missing out on a great 3-and-D option, as well as a player that can stretch his game to multiple positions by providing scoring from the outside and inside, but the severity of his recent injuries is too risky to take a chance on.

Parsons recently went through a Twitter Q&A and when asked if he was staying in Dallas, replied in a pessimistic way, stating that he “will find out very soon.”

There’s always the chance that the Mavs get a “no” from both of their top targets and turn around and hand Parsons a max contract, but there’s no telling when that would happen or if Parsons would even still be on the market.

With a max deal being the only thing that brings him back to Dallas, it’s probably smart to believe that his time with the Mavs is up.

So what would the Mavs do in his absence?

They’ve already named players like Kent Bazemore, Evan Fournier, Evan Turner and Marvin Williams as possible replacements.

Some even believe Justin Anderson could step in as a starter in just his second year in the league, but I don’t think he’s a starter just yet.

Despite encouraging signs toward the end of the 2015-16 regular season and in the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Anderson still needs time to improve.

Most of the decision would lean on whether or not the Mavs attract any big names. Should they find another star, they would likely try to sign one of the players mentioned above. Should they strike out again, they could possibly make a run at guys like Nicolas Batum or Luol Deng.

To sum everything up, it’s likely that Chandler Parsons finds a new home this summer. The circumstances just don’t seem right and the Mavs definitely seem like they are ready to move on.

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With factors like money weighing into the decision, Parsons will probably run towards a bigger city where he can live out the lifestyle that suits him best. Unless the Mavs get really desperate this summer, it’s safe to say that they’ll have a new starting small forward come next season.